North East England to become UK's first Ultra Low Carbon Economic Area

Nissan, who have agreed to supply the area with its new electric vehicle, the Leaf from 2011, will give buyers a range of incentives for it including free charging and the use of dedicated lanes for electric vehicles in partnership with One North East, the regions development agency.

The resulting agreement safeguards the future of the areas 2,250 jobs at Nissan's Sunderland plant, beating off competition from Nissan's Portugese plant in doing so.

The other Nissan plants chosen for the battery-powered car are Oppama in Japan and Smyrma in Tennessee, America.

Nissan, who have entered into partnership recently with Renault, are committed to bringing 500,000 'Leaf's' into the market each year - 50,000 of which will come from Sunderland factory.

The area already has a research and development centre for electric cars, and this latest investment will see hundreds of people given the chance to test-drive the experience by Cenex, the UK's Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell Technologies.

At Sunderland, Durham and Newcastle Universities, meanwhile, students will be given the chance to take specialist courses and research into electronics in automobiles.

Gateshead College, a £5.5m Skills Academy in Tyne and Wear will also use its facility for training on electric vehicles too.

The Leaf, which utilises a £20,000 Lithium Ion battery, meets all the conditions that Nissan sets for it - reaching a top speed of 90 mph and an average range of 100 miles.

Users will not be expected to buy the Lithium Ion battery that Nissan produces with NEC but 'lease' it keeping the price within the normal price range for a five door hatchback.